Archive for December 2008

I hope you were all overloaded with presents :P Sadly, it’s been a very dark week for Aion this Christmas. Several more issues arose.

– Emergence of speed / melee damage increase hacks.

– Lack of game content

– Boring Abyss

The hacks were around for little more than a week. They just started becoming more obvious now. NCsoft hasn’t responded to these hacks yet. As for game content, there’s very little you can do once you reach 45. Basically, you grind to lvl 45, grind Temple of Flames about 100 times until you get your Unique weapon(disgusting drop rate they say) then you just gank people in Abyss all day. There’s several problems with abyss as well. As 하야덴 guy made front page on every single Aion fansites with his fancy transformation, people became more desperate to rank up their abyss rank, and in a game with broken class balance, its kind of hard to do for a lot of people, so they are turning to other methods; such as Fortress guard farming – which refers to people hanging around fortresses just to kill the guards around it. Fortress guards are regarded as special mobs and drop extra abyss points. Another thing with this is that it discourages people from participating in fortress seiges, as you’d need the other side to be in control of the fortress in order to farm the guards. Also, several people were seen farming points from each other. Oh and speaking of 하야덴, this is where this guy is right now.

Also, the damage of your aoe spells and reflection spells that you can use during transformation increases with your rank.

Aion is a funny game where top PvPer is a healer.

I really have a problem with this ranking system. In order to get this transformation skill, you need to get to rank 5 lietanent, but as more and more people get to end game, there’s gonna be a lot of people with lot of points. The number limit to these ranks will lead to these top ranks being very competitive and hard to get. This means about 99% of you will never get to use that transformation. Note that there ‘s gonna be around 100 people on each side with these transformations. Judging by how 하야덴 is single handedly wiping the floor with Elyos, you can see how abyss is going to be like when there’s even 100 of them around. It’s going to be like one epic playground for the top 1% of the players, where those guardians AOE everyone else to death.

That’s only if both sides get to get enough high ranks, but what if one faction completely dominates the other? Say a group of hardcore PvP people move in to your server. They play/bot 24/7 their way up to 45 before anybody else. Then they start limiting access to the good abyss regions. What can you do if you’re on the losing team? Can you beat players with 115k hp? or even 200k+ if they’re commander in chief? (Note that a lvl 45 templar has 5.5k max hp other classes have even less) This rank system is a breeding ground for assholes to ruin the game for everyone. I don’t know if NCsoft prefers this type of game style like L2 where assholes rule or they’re a group of idiots.

If Aion grinding involved around Instanced dungeons, botting and assholes would matter less, but because NCsoft decided to take field PvE for Aion, they become HUGE issues. Bots are farming away at field raid spawns and wherever place drops decent loots. When players turn to abyss for botfree PvE, they are faced with 115k hp 햐야덴 monsters. Do you guys see what I’m trying to say?

Oh yes, and bots are still there, and they now grind in parties. I think its suffice to say, Aion dev team ruined Christmas for a lot of people.

Hey don’t lose hope, at least we are not the ones paying for this game at this pitiful state.

I really went out of my way this week to get past [Rank 4 Lieutenant]. Based on [Rank 2 Lieutenant] status, I got about 30,000~40,000 points per day. I had 1,993 kills last week.

Rank 5 Lieutenant, 722,184 points, and 4421 Total Kills!

Q. Was it hard getting that many points? Do you think you can get to Commander in Chief (Top rank)?

One death at [Rank 2 Lieutenant] meant loss of 1,600 points. I was dying about three times a day so I thought it was gonna be really hard at [Rank 5 Lieutenant], but when I got to it and got the [Guardian Transformation], I started to think that I can get there. Oh yeah, and meteorites.. I died to meteorites three times last week.

Q. Ever died as Guardian?

Well, I don’t die unless I get hit by a lot at the same time (focused burst). Oh and I don’t die even if I get hit by meteorites : D I was so happy.

Guardian Transformation looked similar to ones in fortresses

Q. Tell us more about the transformation; How is it?

One word; Overpowered. It lasts 20 minutes with 1 hr cooldown. As a cleric, I get to have about 86,000 HP and 150,000 MP. Also, everyone in the area gets notified when I use the transformation. Not only that, whenever I use a lieutenant skill, it broadcasts what I used where. Kind of annoying since I use it every 20 seconds. Then again, the transformation is only usable in abyss.

Q. Do you get increased flight time?

Nope

Q. How overpowered is the Guardian transformation?

I can capture an artifact in lower abyss by myself. I also get this [Abyssal Hurricane] skill. It does 1115~1175 physical damage to 6 targets in 20m radius around myself. It has 20 sec cooldown.

Q. Must be very powerful in Sieges, How is it?

You said it. Since I can spam it every 20 seconds, I get loads of kill and points : )

Q. Many are complaining about [Voice of Destruction], what are your thoughts?

It completely destroys PvP balance. I hope it gets nerfed on next patch. If not, at least make the DoT effect curable with potions.

Q. Exactly how powerful is [Voice of Destruction]?

I think I got around 30,000 points purely out of this skill. If the party doesn’t have a cleric in it, it’s pretty much dead. 18 people at a time. Yeah sure there will be a few that resists it.

Every single divine stone is overpowered. Once the proc effect activates, there is no way to remove it. The rate of proc kicking in and the duration is way too high. I could say that my success was largely due to the divine stones. I used silence and blind stones.

Q. Any last comments?

I really wanted to say this. There’s no real incentive to abyss. Monsters here only range up to lvl 40. If lvl 41+ mobs spawned here and there were some other stuffs, maybe more people would come and there would be more pvp. As of now, its just few lvl 40+ players ganking each other. I really want NCsoft to take this into consideration.

Saw this shot today. It’s basically system log of this 마티니 guy killing 15 guys at the same time with the Cleric DP skill [Voice of Destruction]. Apparently 3 more died after this shot was taken after trying to stay alive with pots.

[Voice of Destruction I] Lvl 40 Cleric DP Skill

Does single 753 fire damage to one target in 25m and up to 18 targets within 20m then 655 fire damage every 3 seconds for 57 seconds. Also reduces healing effect by 50%

Instant cast, 4,000 DP cost, 1 hr cooldown

That’s total of 13198 damage in 1 minute up to 19 people at the same time.A lvl 45 Templar has 5.5k hp. This is an insanely overpowered skill. As more and more clerics are hitting 40, this is becoming more and more obvious.

In Aion, you can gain abyss points by 2 methods: One, of course, is killing other players in Abyss; Second is to kill mobs in abyss. You are awarded with “Ranks” in game as a soldier of your faction. If you go up high enough, you may gain quite a fame like being a lieutenant; if you die, entire region will be notified of your death. Aion Dev team has hinted that they might be making ‘hero’ status later on and special weapons for high ranking players.

**Note that there’s 2 separate ranks. One is your soldier rank in game. Other is your point rank in the entire server. While your rank in game will go down if you choose to spend your abyss points, your server ranking will stay the same as it counts the total points gained, not points currently in possession.

So basically, you can either farm your way up that ladder or PvP your way up. (I can already see people botting to gain high ranks)

Anyhow, this is a screenshot of 지켈 server top ranking players. This is the server that the 프로 guy is in. Note that this screenshot was taken on 12/20, several days after his interview.

From this screenshot, one may think “Oh my! this game is actually quite balanced! Dam Elliot’s exaggerated translations”

And now we take a closer look

This is 프로’s curren’t status. He is currently ranking 9th in terms of total points gained server rank. He has 4131 total kill count.

And this is the status of a gladiator, he’s the 3rd rank in 지켈 server.

621 total kills.

The Templar is 2nd rank actually has 229 kills. The cleric in 6th rank has 2200 kills. While the clerics above him has 200~400. The SpiritMaster had 464 kills. Oh this one cleric from 자케칸 server had 6,000 kills.

Note that these current abyss points can be low if the player decided to spend it on pots and such. We want to focus on the kill counts. Remember that this is only 1 server, but its a pretty good general outline.

If you’re one of the early morning Asmodians, you probably heard of the name “프로” (Aka Pro in English)

The man who adds tension in the air every time that clock comes around.

He recently started gaining fame on his live stream with his flashy controls. Today, let us meet the man himself, Lvl 45 Elyo Assassin, 프로.

Elyo Rank 2, This week's total kill: 1000, Last week total kill: 1203, Total Kill 3700

The Boogieman, Interview with 프로

Hello, Nice to meet you. Could you give us a short intro?

– I’m a 23 yrs old male continuing my mother’s business at 경기도 동두천.

How much do you play per day and where do you play at?

– I play about 12 hours around my work schedule. I put in about 5 hours into abyss and ‘portals’. I think ‘portal’ is much more fun than Abyss.

What’s your current rank and abyss point count?

– Currenly I am rank 2 and have about 150k points. If I didn’t buy so many abyss potions I’d probably be rank 1.

Wow, that’s pretty high. How many asmodians do you kill a day? : )

– On a good day, I think I got up to 500.

To be honest, I play asmodian and I did die to you a lot : (

– Haha.. Sorry about that ^^

His weapons, now i understand why I died so fast

Any personal pvp strategy?

– There’s really not much to it. Stealth, sneak around to the back.. then rawr! +_+ It’s all about timing. Like when to stun? It’s an easy kill someone is fighting a mob ^^

Which classes do you find most hard to kill?

– Well.. if I am ganking, then I can kill about 90% except Templars. If we are talking head on 1v1, then Gladiators, Templars, Clerics, and other Assassins. [균형의 갑옷] (Stun, CC, Slow resistance skill) is really scary to an assassin that depends on stun. Clerics are just… monsters. They just won’t die and have strong nukes. Assassin VS Assassin is all about timing. It’s most risky but it’s also the most fun.

How about classes most easy to kill?

– Chanters. I can win 100% of the time. Honestly, they really need to be buffed. It’s sad.

His accessories.. Look at those behemoth drops.. (top raid in Aion)

Any memorable Asmodian players?

– There’s one. Asmodian Assassin 히얼.

During Open Beta, I got interviewed along with him from other site as we were both rank 1s. Since then I thought of him as a rival.

But as the time pass, he just continues to disappoint me.

Any comments on PvP balance?

– It’s all good except mid-air pvp.

Oh yea, and buff chanters

He was basically a portrait painted with epic items and rare divine stones.

Something that Aion really need to improve on?

– (almost answers at the same time) No sub-patches (meaning when Dev team changes game mechanics and not tell players) Please do it in the open. It’s not like players don’ find out. It just looks unprofessional.

(He is referring to the 12/17 patch, which apparently included Assassin skill speed decrease, while it wasn’t shown on patch notes)

What divine stones and stigmas are you using?

– For divine stones I use Paralyze + Blind. Paralyze has 2% chance to activate. It basically stuns target for 5seconds. Blind has 10% to activate and it lowers attack power a lot for 10%.

(All of his items shown on the screenshots were embedded with +crit stones. Aka Crit spec Assassin)

Finishing up the Interview

Any last comments?

– I hope people learn to play the game and not take it personal. When I do /cheer on your dead bodies, I am not doing it out of hate. Think of it as more like my own little ceremony.

No cursing at me with personal shop boards please

My motto is; no questions, back to town quietly

프로 is pretty famous for his live PvP streams.I went to watch some of his streams myself, along with a lot of people already there.

The lone wolf popping out of shadows and dark corners eveywhere. He’s known for his controls and fast reactions. I now understood why I got killed so quick. (ps. My character is a chanter)

Due to the people waiting for his PvP stream growing impatient, 프로 had to run as soon as the interview was over. I admire his passion for the game and am thankful for his time. Thank you all for reading this interview.

What do high levels think about their classes? since they are the ones who spent the most time with the class

Today, let’s take a look at what high lvls have to say about their strengths and weaknesses, and their likes and dislikes.

Sorcerer Interview

To find out more about Sorcerers, I’ve interviewd 묘령[Lvl42] from 지켈 server (A) and ???[Lvl 44] who asked not to show his name (B).

Q. What are some of the strengths of a sorcerer?

A – Strong burst damage, and many CCs

B – Great solo and strong dps

Q. What are some of the weaknesses?

A – Well.. we do have low hp.. I think that’s about it.

B – It’d be the tiny hp. I am not sure about others but its kind of difficult to pvp with tiny max hp. Then again, I can balance it out somewhat so I can’t really say if its weakness.

Q. Give us a short review of Sorcerer

A – There’s really nothing that sorcerers lack compared to other classes. We are a popular class.

B – Well, I could say that there could be some improvements but I am generally satisfied. If you are a solo kind of guy, I’d recommend sorcerer. I am not sure about what will happen in future patches, but for now, its satisfactory.

Q. Classes that you have hard time fighting?

A – Assassins. If I don’t have steel barrier up before they ambush, I am pretty much dead.

B – Assassins and Rangers. Rangers especially. Silence arrows are pretty frightening since you can’t really do much when you can’t use any of your skills.

Q. Most envious class : )?

Q. “Sorcerer needs to be changed this way”?

A – I don’t really feel like we need any improvements. I guess we sort of do lack AoE spells, but I’m fine as of now. I almost feel like we deserve to be nerfed a little.

B – We really lack AoE spells. I do hope that they add more AoEs

Q. Any particular recommended spells for other sorcerers?

A – Well almost all spells are useful in a way, but in solo, [Ice Chain] is the best. [Ice Chain] -> [Frost Shock] is the best combo in solo. It slows the enemy, and frost shock knocks them back. I think it even stuns them a little.

B – I almost use all spells but I think I use [Mid-Air Root] the most. Whether is PvP or PvE, [Mid-Air Root] -> [Flame Shot] 3~4x is almost a guaranteed kill.

Q. Any personal strategy that you’d like to share?

A – I play the game based on party play. I try to find the weakest mobs in lvling areas and try to best place to grind in. I can say that my group found that (area name here) first in my server.

B – Personally, I like to use the max spellpower set. Some people like to invest in more hp, but I like to think “Kill it before it comes near“. That’s about it.

SpiritMaster Interview

To find out more about SpiritMasters, I’ve interviewed ???[Lvl 41] from 지켈 server and 니코로빈[Lvl 42] from 첸가룽 server.

Q. Strengths of SpiritMaster?

A – Great solo. When I say great solo, I am not talking about fast killing but rather like slow/steady solo. I never have to stop if i take mp pots with me.

B – Good solo and good pvp on ground I think

Q. Weaknesses of SpiritMaster?

A – Can’t find parties. Just have to be a solo wolf all the way. Even if you get in a party, you always have to worry about getting kicked any second. I also think this has to do with L2 image of summoners carrying over to this game.

B – We really lack any skills to contribute to a party.. No one really looks for a spiritmaster. And the fact that summons can’t fly in Abyss really is a problem.

Q. Give us a short review of SpiritMaster

A – Only play it if you like solo. Personally, I think SpiritMasters are the best class for solo.

B – There’s really lot of unhappy SpiritMasters out there, but I think it really depends on the person. Just try to find your style / setting. It isn’t a char like sorcerer where every player wins, but it can be become something good if you play it right.

Q. A class that you have trouble fighting?

A – Rangers. If we are talking templar or gladiator, I can prettymuch kite them but you can’t really kite a ranged class. On melees, I just use [Chain of Earth] to slow people and [Scream of the Soul] if they come near. Doesn’t really seem to work on a ranger.

B – Assassins and Rangers. Rangers have that silence arrow and Assassins have magic dodge.. SpiritMasters are almost as weak as Sorcerers, so we can pretty much die in seconds if someone gets the chance.

Q. Most envious class?

A – I’d have to say Sorcerers.. We both have low hps but Sorcerers are not lacking in any other areas. I really envy their burst damage.

B – Well, I’m quite content with my char but I guess it’d be Sorcerers. For Sorcerers, the extra levels they gain makes them so much stronger and they get large bonus from whatever gear they use. Our summons don’t get effected by our gear at all, and skills don’t change much in higher levels.

Q. “SpiritMasters need to be changed this way!”?

A – Summons need to be able to fly in abyss! Pretty ridiculous that summons can’t fly when they are what make us what we are. I’d also like our gear to impact our summons more. For example, higher spellpower makes summon skills stronger.. Lastly, raids or elite mobs should get buffs that must be removed in order for smoother party play.. so our debuffs have some kind of use.

B – First, it’d be great if our gear made some kind of difference for our summons. Most summoners today don’t even bother upgrading their gear. And use of summons in abyss should be improved.. summoners should be able to use their summon.

Q. Any recommended spellss for other SpiritMasters?

A. Just learn it all. For PvP, Fear spells are particularly useful. I think spirits do more damage on feared targets too.

B. Uh.. not really sure what spells in particular are the best, but I think [Exploding Claw] that u get at lvl 40 is pretty good. Most spells we have aren’t really meant for PvE efficiency it seems.

Q. Any tips?

A – SpiritMasters really burn through mana, so make sure you always carry MP potions. It’s kind of expensive to buy from vendors so try to get alchemy and make them yourself. Lastly, when you are grinding, pick a place with mobs that are strong but weak in defense. It’s always the spirits that are tanking, so try to use that wisely.

B – There’s 4 types of summons and not one of them are really best at everything, so try to figure out which one is best at which fight. There’s better skill rotation for each summon too. For example, since water spirit is ranged, try to level as if you are a sorcerer, kill them before they get near. For earth spirits or fire spirits, make them tank. Wind spirits are the fastest so use those for PvP. Oh and if you boost your spellpower, your DoT spell damage goes up, so try to use SP set for pve. HP set seems to be best for PvP.

Same class. Same opinions!

I was somewhat surprised as I was doing these interviews.

Even though different people played the class, each person stated almost identical things about the class.

Thoese people weren’t the only people I interviewed either.

Almost all sorcerers stated low hp as the weakness while stating templar as the most envious class. And said lack of AoE was their weak point.

Most SpiritMasters described their class as the best soloers while stating it was hard to find parties. Most envious class also turned out to be sorcerer.

Lastly, Sorcerers and SpiritMasters alike stated Assassins and Rangers as their most formidable opponents, proving that scout types are indeed strong against casters.

Anyhow, there’s no perfect class in a game.

Isn’t it a part of the game to play the strengths of a class while trying to overcome its weaknesses?